KnowIThttp://knowit.co.nz
Occasional writings by Miraz JordanThu, 01 Dec 2016 07:16:28 +0000en-NZhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1http://knowit.co.nzhttp://knowit.co.nz/144px-new-knowit-logo.jpgKnowIT3714606http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/Knowithttps://feedburner.google.comKeep it clean: a good drinkhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Knowit/~3/LBKlXab9Rxs/keep-it-clean-a-good-drink
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 06:57:52 +0000http://knowit.co.nz/?p=8769Apparently a first flush diverter for a rainwater storage tank needs to be regularly cleaned. ]]>If you turn on the tap and get water from a town water supply then you rather take fresh water for granted. Or at least, in New Zealand you do.

But when we moved to our small house in a rural beach location we started drinking rain water, stored in our own tank. That’s brought a whole new awareness, from questions about health and safety, to a far better understanding of the connection between rain and the water we use.

After a heavy rain I enjoy taking long showers, knowing the tank has been topped up. In the middle of a dry summer we take care to use water more sparingly.

We’re also more aware that if the power goes off, as it often does around here, the pump on the tank won’t work and so nor will the taps. Also, the toilet won’t flush.

In an emergency though we could take the lid off the access to the tank and draw up water in a bucket. That’s reassuring when it comes to earthquake planning.

Rainwater storage tank. A corner of the neighbour’s house is just visible in the background.

Our house was built a couple of years ago, and while we are connected to the national electricity grid we have to collect water off the roof for drinking and household use. We have a bore and pump which supplies water we can use on the garden, but that water is not suitable for drinking.

When they built the house, the very first step was to dig a couple of holes and install tanks. One was the septic tank, on the southeast corner of the property. The other was the 40,000 litre rainwater collection tank beside the house.

Rainwater tank with the beginnings of our house.

Rainwater tank before the electric pump was installed.

Our house is 68 square metres in area and when it rains the water collects in the gutter then runs through a couple of pipes into the storage tank. For every 1 millimetre of rain we can collect around 65 litres of water.

As a guide to collection capacity, consider that each 1mm of rain = 1 Litre (L) of water per square metre (m2) of roof area, then allow a 15% wastage factor. — Roof surface & area | Rain Harvesting.

That works well when it rains a lot in winter, but in summer things tend to be dry round here and the usual pattern is infrequent light rain. There’s plenty of opportunity to wash bird poop and other debris right down the pipe and into our water tank.

The first flush diverter connected to the downpipe captures dirt and debris, keeping it out of the rainwater tank.

Further research into various physical methods for collecting clean roof water showed that a first flush diverter was the single most effective way of maintaining good water quality. The first flush diverter diverts the first 50 to 100 litres of water collected during a rain event, ensuring that contaminants don’t make it into the tank.

It works like this: the first rain in any spell washes dirt off the roof, down the main pipe and into the flushing tank where it accumulates. The debris falls to the bottom and a plastic ball floats on the surface. When the water reaches the top of the flushing tank the ball blocks the pipe and any additional rainfall goes back out the secondary pipe at the side and into the main storage tank.

Meanwhile, the water collected in the flushing tank slowly drips out through a tiny hole in a small disc at the top of a small pipe at the bottom. You can see how it all works in the photo above.

So that’s all been happening since about July 2015.

A couple of weeks ago we were woken by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake whose epicentre was around 250 Km away. See Shaken awake. I did walk around our house looking for damage once dawn arrived but didn’t see any problems. As far as I know, a few ornaments fallen off shelves was the only ‘damage’ we suffered.

Then the other night we had very high winds and something loudly creaking outside the bedroom window meant I slept badly. The likely culprit was our first flush diverter which is attached to the wall there.

When I checked the tank it seemed a bit loose in its moorings. When I gave the tank a push it felt very heavy and I realised it must be full. We’ve had a lot of rain recently but the tank is supposed to slowly empty itself.

I unscrewed the drain pipe at the bottom and a huge amount of disgusting, foul-smelling water gushed out. That’s when I discovered via some YouTube videos that there’s a filter inside and I’m supposed to clean out the tank and its filter every few months.

Sure enough, the filter was totally clogged and disgusting. A scrub with a dish brush and some water did the trick though.

The filthy filter on the first flush diverter. I imagine the yellow colour is mainly pollen from the pine forest we used to have just across the road, upwind of us. That forest was felled earlier this year so with any luck the pollen will be reduced.

Better: a clean filter and float.

It’s disturbing to think that all that muck was at the bottom of the flushing tank, and I hope none of it found its way out of the tank and into the main water supply. I now have an entry in my calendar to remind me to check the filter every few months.

]]>8769http://knowit.co.nz/2016/12/keep-it-clean-a-good-drinkShaken awakehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Knowit/~3/2DyJeGUyKh0/shaken-awake
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 07:44:41 +0000http://knowit.co.nz/?p=8763One of New Zealand's three biggest earthquakes in recorded history struck at midnight on Monday morning. I felt it. Here are my impressions. ]]>I came to in my bed moments after midnight when the house started groaning, rattling, and shaking. Something was banging against a wall. A couple of small items nearby and in the other rooms fell from shelves. It was an earthquake. And not one of our usual quakes which shake a bit for a moment, and you think: Well, that was a bit of a shake. No, this one was going on and even seemed to be winding up a bit.

For the first time ever, I believe, I thought that maybe I should get up and out.

Oops, the official advice is: If you’re in bed during a quake, stay there, hold on and protect your head with a pillow. #eqnz

I sat up, grabbed my slippers and iPad (I should have got the phone), reached for my dressing gown and went the few steps to the front door, with my partner right beside me.

As we sat on the front steps the house was still shaking and I couldn’t get on the Internet because the power had gone off, taking down the router.

Drop cover hold in an earthquake.

It turned out that we, like most of New Zealand, had felt a massive 7.5M earthquake 15 Km deep and some 200 Km away near Kaikoura in the South Island, though initially it was reported as a 6.6M, as in my screenshot.

Quake and aftershocks.

As the screenshot also shows, with its list of quakes filtered to show only those categorised as severe, the major quake was immediately followed by numerous aftershocks.

In some ways the word aftershocks is misleading. I’m sure there’s a good technical reason for the name, but it seems to diminish these subsequent earthquakes, as though they’re in some way ‘less’. They’re not though — just look at those M6.2s.

We went back inside the house after a few minutes, but spent the next few hours awake, watching news on the Internet (on our phones), sharing tweets, listening to RNZ’s excellent coverage, and being on full alert as the house was shaking almost continuously with aftershocks. My little solar powered flashlights came in handy whenever the power went off.

Will this shake be big enough to cause damage? Should we leave the house for this one? Was that first one a prelude to a bigger one?

The power came on again after a while and I made us a cup of tea. Just in time, as then the power went off again, though it came back on later.

The ‘big one’ was felt all over New Zealand, as shown by the orange and red dots which are reports, while the blue dots are recent quakes. Note the time scale for this screen: the last 60 minutes.

The quakes were coming thick and fast. I made this screenshot around 8 hours after the first quake.

By about 4.30 I managed to go back to sleep for a couple of hours, but as the day dawned reports were coming in of damage caused by the quake, especially at the epicentre near Kaikoura which had been cut off by slips. Wellington too suffered somewhat, with various buildings losing windows or having parts fall off. Some hotels and apartment blocks were evacuated.

More than a thousand shakes in less than 48 hours.

The aftershocks continue. Even as I wrote the last few words I felt one. Or maybe it was two. They happen so often it’s not always possible to know which one I felt. I’ve felt several others too before finishing this post. Each makes me just that bit more alert.

These quakes happened almost at the same time while I wrote this post. The first was smaller but very close; the second larger but further away.

Yesterday morning I went around our various buildings checking for damage. I’m glad to say there was none. I also checked the two houses nearby whose owners aren’t currently around and reported back to them that they had nothing obvious to worry about.

The next issue was the tsunami potential. For a while the whole coastline was an area to stay away from, though before long the danger area was reduced to just the East coast. Apparently the fault the quake was on extends out well into the sea. Friends on the coast in South Wellington had to evacuate their houses for several hours.

Since we live by the beach I was a bit concerned, but we’re behind several rows of sand dunes, on a 3 or 4 metre hill ourselves and we’re about 800 metres inland. We stayed put, and over here on the West Coast it was more of a warning to stay off the beach itself.

Today we’ve heard the earthquake scientists speculate that the big quake was actually more than one quake. Coincidentally Wellington had gale force winds and a huge dump of rain that caused flooding and slips, disrupting land travel and ferries. For a while Wellington was effectively cut off by land.

Where I live we’ve had a fair bit of rain today and over the last few weeks, so local surface flooding is happening. The unnamed road in this photo always floods after a prolonged period of rain.

Flooded road with truck.

Down south the air force and navy have been evacuating stranded tourists from Kaikoura. All over the country folks have been checking on their neighbours and strangers, offering help and support and accommodation where it was needed. All the services have taken action — they all have contingency plans for this kind of thing.

So here we are nearly 48 hours after that big quake struck and things feel calmer and more settled. I’m finding the aftershocks I actually feel make the hair on the back of my neck stand up as I prepare myself mentally for a quick dash outside with the dogs. Since we’re in a rural area there are no buildings to fall on us, except the house we’re in.

Our house was built less than two years ago though, and New Zealand has strict earthquake building codes. We’re lucky that there’s no corruption in New Zealand, so we know that if a building has a Code of Compliance certificate then it meets all the various strict standards required by law.

We’re also quite well set up here. We have our own 40,000 litre rainwater tank, a woodburner and firewood on which we could cook if we needed to. We have our own septic tank. If there was a major disaster we’d do pretty well for a while.

Monday’s earthquake magnitude has been upgraded from a 7.5 to a 7.8 — which means a higher probability of powerful aftershocks, for longer period of time.

]]>8763http://knowit.co.nz/2016/11/shaken-awakeSingapore airport has it allhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Knowit/~3/9bgeiC_7_Pk/singapore-airport-has-it-all
Sat, 12 Nov 2016 19:32:05 +0000http://knowit.co.nz/?p=8723This airport has everything, including easy chairs, free movies, free foot massage, electronic gizmos all over and even a butterfly garden. ]]>30 September 2015: Being unwell, we didn’t get to see any of Singapore except the road between airport and hotel.

I relive last year’s fantastic holiday by bringing posts over from the trip blog. This doesn’t aim to be identical to the trip blog, but an improvement, with text edits and more / better photos. Find all these posts under the tag: Spain2015.

We stayed at the Changi Village Hotel in Singapore, which is fairly flash. I’d had a decent amount of sleep on the plane from Zurich, luckily.

We had dinner last night at the hotel then went straight to bed. I slept for the better part of 10 hours or so. Then we got up for the breakfast we’d paid for, though neither of us could really eat. We both feel pretty blah still.

Luckily we had the room until 3 pm, then we were advised to get the 3.30 shuttle back to the airport for the 9.5 hour flight to Christchurch. It’ll be good to get home to Wellington.

Butterfly garden at Singapore Airport.

Now we’re waiting to board at Terminal 3. This airport has everything, including easy chairs, free movies, free foot massage, electronic gizmos all over and even a butterfly garden.

Amazing!

In the Butterfly garden.

In the Butterfly garden.

In the Butterfly garden.

In the Butterfly garden.

Deb reckons she could live here.

Afterword: After a couple of hours at Christchurch Airport we caught the plane home, glad to be back on home ground. It took a few days for the effects of all the travelling, and the tummy bug, to wear off.

The holiday stayed with me for a very long time. It was certainly the best holiday I’ve ever had. Every day was a delight and brought new joys, even if they were harder to appreciate at the very end when we were tired and unwell.

That was my third, and longest, trip to Spain which I seem to enjoy more each time I visit. I guess it’s unlikely I’ll ever return, but you never know…

]]>8723http://knowit.co.nz/2016/11/singapore-airport-has-it-allFlights of fantasyhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Knowit/~3/aVSOaPkQHqc/flights-of-fantasy
Sat, 12 Nov 2016 19:29:41 +0000http://knowit.co.nz/?p=8721Our stay at Zurich Airport proved exceptionally brief. ]]>30 September 2015: In my fantasy we would spend the 1 hour in Zurich between flights strolling through the duty free shops, checking out the Swiss chocolate and maybe even the Swiss Army knives.

Departure board at Barcelona. 800 gates!

Barcelona Airport queue.

I relive last year’s fantastic holiday by bringing posts over from the trip blog. This doesn’t aim to be identical to the trip blog, but an improvement, with text edits and more / better photos. Find all these posts under the tag: Spain2015.

Then the plane carrying us from Barcelona to Zurich was delayed. Which delayed our departure. Which delayed our arrival in Zurich.

The cabin crew were unable to help us with information about our arrival gate or the gate for the plane we had to catch next, but told us to ask the ground crew.

Deb and I were off the plane quite quickly after it stopped at gate A45. There were certainly plenty of people behind us.

The first ground crew person we approached said, in a very Swiss way, Run to Gate E, run!, so we did.

Do you know how big Zurich airport is?

On the train through Zurich Airport.

We scurried: up escalators, along moving walkways, down corridors, down stairs, along more corridors, onto a high speed train, through a fortunately speedy Passport Control, up more stairs to gate E34, then down a ramp and finally, gasping, onto the plane bound for Singapore.

A few moments later they closed the doors and we began our 12.5 hour flight.

I think that’s the fastest I’ve ever gone through an airport.

]]>8721http://knowit.co.nz/2016/11/flights-of-fantasyOn the plane againhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Knowit/~3/bkfnQxXJM6M/on-the-plane-again
Fri, 11 Nov 2016 18:13:32 +0000http://knowit.co.nz/?p=8719Flights, delays, sleeps. Fortunately the tummy bug was more under control. ]]>29 September 2015: Managed 6 hours or so sleep in Barcelona at the Airport Hotel.

I relive last year’s fantastic holiday by bringing posts over from the trip blog. This doesn’t aim to be identical to the trip blog, but an improvement, with text edits and more / better photos. Find all these posts under the tag: Spain2015.

After our plane from Marrakech was delayed several hours we eventually arrived in Barcelona in the very early hours of the morning and took a taxi to the hotel. When we arrived, and the taxi had gone, the folks at the desk told us we didn’t have a reservation. We knew we did though.

It turns out we’d booked (and I’m writing this part more than a year later, from memory) for the Hotel BAH Barcelona Airport but had taken the taxi to the Hotel Airport (or something very like that). Yes. Two hotels with almost identical names.

Leaving Barcelona – outside the hotel.

Finally we sorted it out, took another taxi just down the road a bit, and finally crashed into bed.

We were able to sleep for a few hours, get some food and drink, and then head back to the airport for the next leg.

Next a 2 hour flight to Zurich, change planes, then a 12.5 hour flight to Singapore.

]]>8719http://knowit.co.nz/2016/11/on-the-plane-againNot the day we planned for Marrakechhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Knowit/~3/VeKFYnLKGhI/not-the-day-we-planned-for-marrakech
Fri, 11 Nov 2016 18:10:11 +0000http://knowit.co.nz/?p=8717A funny tummy in Marrakech threw our plans a little off. ]]>28 September 2015: Something Deb and I both ate yesterday didn’t agree with us. That became evident in the early dark hours of the morning with repeated hurried trips to the bathroom.

I relive last year’s fantastic holiday by bringing posts over from the trip blog. This doesn’t aim to be identical to the trip blog, but an improvement, with text edits and more / better photos. Find all these posts under the tag: Spain2015.

We both skipped breakfast and slept some more.

Our original plan had been to check out of Riad Abaca Badra just before noon, leave our bags there and wander off to the fixed price crafts centre to buy a rug. Then perhaps to go somewhere for dinner. Our flight to Barcelona leaves only a few minutes before midnight.

Riad upstairs lounge.

That plan suddenly became redundant. Gilles and Dominique, the owners of the Riad, were lovely. When I asked about a pharmacy they not only said all would be closed today but were able to give us an Imodium tablet each to help out. Then they said they didn’t need our room today and we could stay and rest beyond the usual checkout time. Such gracious hosts, they offered fruit and told us just to let them know what we needed.

We went up to the roof garden till it got too warm and then napped back in the room.

We left though in the late afternoon as we didn’t want to abuse their generous hospitality. After all, the Airport has a pharmacy, toilets, food and drink. It’s dry and air-conditioned too. WIth thunderstorms predicted for early evening it seems sensible to be inside, though there will be a walk across the tarmac to board.

Not eating and cautious sips of water or lemonade seem to be helping. We shared a small cheeese roll for dinner.

I’m glad that this happened on what is pretty much the last day of our trip. I’d seen enough of Marrakech and Morocco and am ready to go home.

Leaving Morocco.

Update: it’s quarter past one in the morning and we’re still waiting for our flight that was supposed to leave at 11.30 pm. It’s been a long day. Sigh.

In retrospect: we eventually boarded just after 2 am. This was the first flight on our long journey home with only a few hours (if we were lucky) at stops on the way through.

]]>8717http://knowit.co.nz/2016/11/not-the-day-we-planned-for-marrakechThunder, coffee, tea and dinnerhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Knowit/~3/RUdNeQW17N4/thunder-coffee-tea-and-dinner
Fri, 11 Nov 2016 02:19:36 +0000http://knowit.co.nz/?p=8715The third day of our desert tour was a very long one, but still it had its special moments. ]]>27 September 2015: The guides woke us at 5.30 well before dawn. We pulled on the clothes from the previous night and used the bathroom facilities. The choices were the one cubicle which had a light and apparently toilet paper or another which had neither and turned out to have no flush mechanism either. That was actually irrelevant anyway because the water tank was empty.

I relive last year’s fantastic holiday by bringing posts over from the trip blog. This doesn’t aim to be identical to the trip blog, but an improvement, with text edits and more / better photos. Find all these posts under the tag: Spain2015.

There were still stars in the sky as we set off on our camels towards the hotel. The riding was harder, perhaps because we were travelling a bit faster — we reached a scenic point just as the sun rose and stopped for a few minutes to take photos.

At least the younger members of the larger group were quiet so we all rode through the desert in silence, hearing the tread of the camels wide hooves and the birds waking up to the sun.

By 0730 we were at the Hotel Nomade Palace that gave us breakfast and the opportunity to shower. Breakfast was the usual for Morocco: bread, crepes, Vache qui Rit cheese, a hardboiled egg, yoghurt, orange juice, mint tea, and a selection of jams and the like.

Cafe Restaurant Almanadir.

On the long car ride back to Marrakech we stopped at our request at a shop in Erfoud to buy fossils and minerals. Deb and I bought a couple of tiny white onyx camels to remind us of our Sahara trip.

Stormcloud nearby.

When we stopped for lunch we were lucky to get inside the restaurant moments before a massive thunderstorm broke overhead. The clouds had been almost purple as we got out of the car then thunder rolled and reverberated and rattled in a way quite unlike the claps we occasionally get in Wellington. The rain pelted down, and a few minutes later fell as hail.

Hail and a small river.

The road flooded almost instantly, so careless passing vehicles sprayed red water as they drove through. The river bed across the road filled and a huge puddle gradually spread across the floor of the restaurant through the open door.

Coffee with milk.

Coffee and tea have a different meaning in Morocco, so Rick carefully specified a large black coffee and some cold milk for his after lunch drink. When the drink arrived a photo became obligatory as he received a tiny glass of coffee and a large glass of cold milk.

Green tea here means Moroccan tea: hot water poured over a huge number of mint leaves and generally heavily sugared in the pot then served in a glass. At our Riad in Marrakech, Riad Abaca Badra, this is a superb mix, but out in the countryside I have often found it to be somewhat bitter and too strong. I guess a comparison would be with the stewed black tea associated in New Zealand with the railways.

Our drive was very long: it’s about 500 or 600 Km, often on roads that are winding over the Atlas Mountains, or barely two cars wide through villages. There were numerous police stops, now the holiday was over. Ibrahim, our driver, said the police are checking for people wearing seatbelts, or that vehicles are carrying the goods they claim to be carrying or that they have the correct permits. We were just waved through.

We stopped every few hours for food, drink or toilet breaks and so Ibrahim could have a rest, and finally arrived at Marrakech just at sunset: an orange ball sinking through the dust and haze.

Marrakech was a shock after the countryside: lights, traffic, dirt, noise, shops, buses. It really is different from its surroundings.

Dessert at the riad.

Luckily we’d ordered dinner at our Riad before leaving a few days earlier. Though we were exhausted we sat up after a few minutes rest and were served an exquisitely delicious meal with salad, tagines, of lemon chicken in my case and lamb and prunes in Deb’s case, then fruit tart and tea. The staff member who does the cooking is a superb chef. If you ever stay here, order dinner.

Riad rooftop panorama.

That concluded our 3 day desert tour. Today we mainly stayed in the Riad, enjoying the rooftop garden and resting, apart from a brief sortie to the money machine, the souks to buy a spread for the bed and a surprisingly good dinner at a French restaurant more or less next door, Le Comptoire du Pacha.

Dessert at the restaurant.

I must say, my legs are sore from the camel riding. I stiffen up if I sit for a bit, and am slow on stairs. Still, it was good fun and quite an experience.

]]>8715http://knowit.co.nz/2016/11/thunder-coffee-tea-and-dinnerCar and camel: long trekshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Knowit/~3/3oRbJ4C82tg/car-and-camel-long-treks
Wed, 09 Nov 2016 20:28:40 +0000http://knowit.co.nz/?p=8710A trek by car and another by camel filled our day. ]]>27 September 2015: After an overnight in Dades Gorge we drove all day again, though it was a slightly shorter day, to Merzouga on the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes of the Sahara Desert. Along the way we visited the Toudgha Gorge which has enormously high sheer cliffs on either side. Rick, a travelling companion, told us that one cliff face is sandstone while the other is limestone.

I relive last year’s fantastic holiday by bringing posts over from the trip blog. This doesn’t aim to be identical to the trip blog, but an improvement, with text edits and more / better photos. Find all these posts under the tag: Spain2015.

The landscape changed as we drove, as you’d expect. On this, Day Two, things seemed slightly less alien, a little more familiar. There was a bit more green, though not much.

On Day One we’d seen many vehicles containing a sheep. We passed markets in small towns that catered to the surrounding areas and which often had small pens of 3 or 4 sheep. The reason was the big religious Festival of the Sheep. Families kill a sheep on that day and share the meat. It’s one of the biggest religious festivals on the calendar and a time of great celebration. Our driver, Ibrahim, had dressed in his best white robe for the occasion.

Rocky hills by the road to Toudgha Gorge.

So where people had gathered on the previous day to trade and to get their sheep, on this day everything was closed. All the towns and villages were shut up. I did notice along the way though at least a dozen sheep slaughterings in progress. Ibrahim told us there are spiritual reasons behind killing the sheep in front of the door of the house.

Men in white.

As we drove through one village we had to stop as the road was filled with men, clad in white or off-white robes, chanting and singing as they walked along. Eventually they parted and waved a greeting at us as we carefully drove through. In another village the men were all gathered in the local square and the imam stood on steps and was speaking to them.

People were all over the place as we drove along. Men, women and children were walking along the roads, gathered in small or larger groups talking. Children were playing. There was an air of great celebration and festivity. Everyone was dressed in their best clothes. This was clearly a special event.

Stork nest from the car.

Toudgha Gorge.

Toudgha Gorge.

Toudgha Gorge.

Toudgha Gorge — limestone and sandstone.

Eventually we reached Merzouga and were delivered to the Hotel Nomade Palace where we were given a cup of mint tea and had a chance to relax for a bit. A few other tour groups also arrived with mainly younger folks.

Mounting up on the camels.

At around 5.30 pm we were called outside to climb onto our camels. Our luggage was tied to the ‘handlebar’ and we were told to hold tight and lean back as the camel stood up.

OK, so I added a bit of sunset drama to this photo…

There’s a soft saddle made of blankets and a kind of cushion stuffed with straw, but no stirrups. The camels are all roped together and only a couple of them complained and only for a few minutes.

Unlike a couple of the younger tourists who were probably in their 20s… They spent perhaps the first 30 minutes of the ride variously shrieking about the discomfort of the camel and discussing, at considerable length and volume and in excruciating detail, the selfie stick they did or did not have.

After that, someone, who may have been me, asked them to please quieten down (once a teacher, always a teacher) and they did. We enjoyed the rest of our 2 hour ride in relative quiet.

On our way to Erg Chebbi.

After the initial surprise at being on a camel, and a few minutes getting used to the sitting position and the gait, it was actually a very easy ride. Taking photos was tricky though — holding the camera in one hand, lining up a shot and then pressing the shutter even as the camel took another step.

On our way to Erg Chebbi.

Camel hooves are huge and splayed to handle the soft sand. We walked at a steady pace though, and apart from someone else’s loose camel turning up to visit, our 2 hour journey was beautiful but uneventful.

Erg Chebbi sunset.

As we arrived at the Berber Camp we were to stay at for the night the sun was setting, the wind suddenly came up. There was lightning in the air and some thunder. Our guides hurried us into our sleeping quarters — it turned out we were bunking in with our travelling companions — and we rested until dinner.

Erg Chebbi – Berber camp.

Erg Chebbi Berber camp shared sleeping quarters.

It had been another very long day.

Afterthought: If you’ve arrived at this post because you’re thinking of doing the overnight at a Berber camp tour then here are some tips: toilet paper and hand sanitiser, and maybe a small torch. The bathroom facilities are basic and limited. The toilet paper ran out and the water ran out by morning, and I’m not sure there was any soap to start with, let alone after some 40 or more people had used the facilities overnight.

]]>8710http://knowit.co.nz/2016/11/car-and-camel-long-treksBrown and grey and red and pinkhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Knowit/~3/RpS3RKtlfEo/brown-and-grey-and-red-and-pink
Tue, 08 Nov 2016 19:16:42 +0000http://knowit.co.nz/?p=8693Morocco comes in shades of brown, red and even grey. Once in a while there's a spot of green, if you're lucky. ]]>I relive last year’s fantastic holiday by bringing posts over from the trip blog. This doesn’t aim to be identical to the trip blog, but an improvement, with text edits and more / better photos. Find all these posts under the tag: Spain2015.

24 September 2015: We were outside the appointed meeting place, Cafe de France, ahead of time this morning, just before 8 am. Ibrahim met us and we climbed into the 6 seater 4-wheel drive. Then we spent an hour picking up one other Australian couple, Netty and Rick, and trying to find another couple who never showed up.

Finally though we set off and then spent the best part of the next 9 hours or so in the car, mainly travelling and occasionally stopping for a toilet break, a drink, photos or a meal.

Near the top of the 2,260 metre pass over the Atlas Mountains.

My impressions of the landscape we passed are overwhelmingly of dry and brown or red. Dry, hostile terrain that comes as rocks and dirt and hills and mountains and valleys. Dust, and a few small plants that hold fast to the ground.

Occasionally there are patches of green, but not often, with palm trees and shrubs, and olives and other plants. In the Valley of the Roses the plants include, of course, roses, from which locals make rose oil, and rose soap and other rose products.

Red rocks in Morocco.

The buildings blend into the environment because they’re made of the same stuff. They may be cement or clay. Most give the appearance of being empty or in disrepair, but probably everyone is just shut inside avoiding the heat.

Village in Morocco.

Village in Morocco.

It’s a barren, hostile environment. I can’t conceive how people would come to this land, stay here, eke out an existence from this hard, hard place.

How different life is here from ours in comfortable New Zealand. This is so utterly different I feel I could be on another planet.

Village in Morocco.

Village in Morocco – goat flock detail.

The landscape is brown, or red, or shades of brown or red, with sometimes grey. The occasional patches of green provide very welcome relief from the desolation. There are whole huge areas where there is nothing but bare land and rocks.

I slept sometimes in the car, dozing, napping, waking again.

What a long day.

Eid sheep in the trailer.

Cactus and oasis in Morocco.

At the Valley of the Roses.

We’re spending the night at a hotel in the Dades Gorge.

Hotel Restaurant La Gazelle Du Dades.

Hotel Restaurant La Gazelle Du Dades dining room.

Dades Gorge.

Afterthought in November 2016: as I look at my photos of the interior of the Hotel Restaurant La Gazelle Du Dades I notice all the soft furnishings: rugs, table cloths, wall hangings, cushions and so on. I’ve realised today what a contrast that softness is to the hardness of the outside world, with its rocks, towering cliffs, dust and dirt.

]]>8693http://knowit.co.nz/2016/11/brown-and-grey-and-red-and-pinkVibrant chaos: Marrakechhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Knowit/~3/rB6VRxrgDC0/vibrant-chaos-marrakech
Tue, 08 Nov 2016 06:10:19 +0000http://knowit.co.nz/?p=8674Marrakech is a chaotic but vibrant city whose souks, or street stalls, offer every variety of foodstuff, along with bags, clothes, shoes and many other items. The streets carry people, animals, bikes, motorbikes, cars, wheelchairs in every possible configuration. ]]>23 September 2015: We made it to Marrakech late last night, courtesy of a Ryan Air 737-800 that seemed to keep absorbing passengers and their oversized, overweight carry-on luggage well beyond the point where it should have been full. By the end only one seat was empty: right next to me, as luck had it.

I relive last year’s fantastic holiday by bringing posts over from the trip blog. This doesn’t aim to be identical to the trip blog, but an improvement, with text edits and more / better photos. Find all these posts under the tag: Spain2015.

In spite of temperatures, first in the 30s (Celsius) and then in the 40s, we went out a couple of times and roamed the streets.

Tomorrow we will be picked up at 8 am in front of Cafe de France for our desert tour. This morning we found the cafe and then explored some of the souks, the stalls in tiny streets in the Medina, the old town.

Take tiny narrow cobbled streets, add stalls, foot traffic, donkey carts, motorbikes, even cars. Everything exists in the same physical space. Scooters and motorbikes come in every configuration and carry everything imaginable. Deb spotted one scooter that carried 2 men with a goat between them.

Donkey and cart on the street in Marrakech.

Tomorrow is Eid, the important religious festival of the sheep. Families buy a sheep and sacrifice it. We saw many sheep in handcarts or on the backs of motorised trike carts.

There were many cats in the souks especially around the stalls selling chicken, but also just resting in the shade.

Marrakech street.

Marrakech souk.

Marrakech souk.

Marrakech is a thriving, bustling, vibrant place, but I’m still fighting off a cold and sleeping more than usual.

Tonight I must pack, ready for our early start and long travel tomorrow. I’ll simply add some photos from all we saw today.